Unclaimed Money in Massachusetts: What You Need to Know
Massachusetts law requires banks, employers, insurance companies, and investment firms to remit dormant accounts to the State Treasurer after 3 years of inactivity. The Treasurer holds all property indefinitely — no deadline, no fee. Massachusetts's combination of world-class financial institutions, a booming life sciences industry, and dozens of universities creates one of the most diverse and valuable unclaimed property databases in the country.
Why Massachusetts Has So Much Unclaimed Property
Massachusetts hosts some of the world's most important financial institutions. Fidelity Investments, State Street Corporation, Wellington Management, and dozens of Boston-area asset management firms hold assets for millions of investors nationwide — and their own employee stock plans, profit-sharing, and deferred compensation accounts are regularly remitted to the state when employees move or retire. The 2008 financial crisis also created a wave of dormant brokerage accounts as institutions merged, restructured, or were acquired.
Massachusetts also hosts more universities per square mile than almost any other state — Harvard, MIT, Tufts, Boston University, Boston College, Northeastern, and dozens more. Each year, tens of thousands of students graduate and leave Massachusetts for jobs in New York, California, or elsewhere, leaving behind security deposits, utility accounts, and uncashed scholarship or stipend checks. The state's 3-year dormancy period means a 2022 graduate's leftover utility deposit may already be in the state database.
What Types of Property Are Unclaimed?
Dormant bank accounts
Uncashed payroll & dividend checks
Stocks, bonds & mutual funds
Safe deposit box contents
Life insurance proceeds
Utility deposits & court deposits
Official Databases to Search
massmoney.org — Mass Money — Massachusetts Unclaimed Property
The official Massachusetts unclaimed property database managed by the Massachusetts State Treasurer. Search by name or business for accounts dormant 3 years or more.
MissingMoney.com
NAUPA's multi-state search portal. Often returns Massachusetts results alongside other states you've lived in — useful if you've moved around.
FDIC Failed Bank Deposits (IndyMac / Others)
Massachusetts residents who had accounts at failed banks — including IndyMac, Washington Mutual, and smaller New England institutions — should check the FDIC's unclaimed funds portal in addition to the state database, as some deposits transferred to FDIC rather than the state.
How to Claim Unclaimed Money in Massachusetts — Step by Step
Claiming is free and straightforward. Follow these steps to search every relevant database and successfully lodge your claim.
Visit massmoney.org and enter your full name. Try variations — maiden names, middle names, and former addresses increase your chances. Search for deceased relatives' names too.
MissingMoney.com (run by NAUPA) covers Massachusetts and other states simultaneously. If you've lived in multiple states, this single search can surface property from all of them at once.
When you find a match, click to view claim details. You'll typically need: a government-issued photo ID, proof of current address (utility bill or bank statement), and documentation proving ownership of the account or property.
Most Massachusetts claims can be filed online with document upload. Paper mail-in claims are also accepted by the Massachusetts State Treasurer. Submit everything together — incomplete claims are the most common cause of processing delays.
After submission, the Massachusetts State Treasurer reviews your documents and verifies your identity. Processing typically takes 60 to 180 days. You can check claim status online. Once approved, payment is made by check or direct deposit.
Search Tips for Massachusetts Residents
- ✓ Search for Fidelity Investments, State Street, or Wellington Management employee benefit accounts — current and former employees of these Boston financial giants frequently have uncashed deferred compensation, stock plan, and retirement plan distributions in the state database
- ✓ Life sciences workers at Moderna, Biogen, Vertex Pharmaceuticals, or Shire (now Takeda) should search for uncashed equity compensation payouts — biotech's rapid M&A activity means employee stock plans often get disrupted when companies are acquired
- ✓ Recent university graduates and alumni from Harvard, MIT, BU, Northeastern, or Boston College should search for uncashed stipend checks, financial aid overpayments, and utility security deposits from Cambridge, Boston, or Somerville landlords
- ✓ Massachusetts has a state income tax — unclaimed Massachusetts state refunds are separate from the unclaimed property database; search at mass.gov/masstaxconnect if you believe you are owed a state income tax refund
- ✓ Search under the names of defunct Massachusetts biotech or tech startups — employer-of-record payroll companies often remit uncashed final paychecks to the state months after a startup shuts down
Ready to Search for Free?
Our tool links you directly to Massachusetts's official unclaimed property database and all US federal databases — no signup, no fee.
Search Massachusetts Free Now →Or search the official database directly: massmoney.org